He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not
by ShiniRoza
Summary: Set in Spirit Bound, post the fight in the church scene. Adrian and Rose have broke up on good terms and Tasha was caught killing the Queen. Dimitri has regained his Guardian status and now he wants to visit his family. The only problem? Rose has to go with him.
1. Russia? No Way!

_Rose? I need to talk to you. Could you come over?_

I had just told Adrian that I didn't think we were going to work out and that maybe we should break up. He took the news surprisingly well. We were friends now, best friends in fact. He had taken up an older brother attitude and told me he was there if he ever needed me. I was grateful that he understood.

It was after my fight with Dimitri and I was going to my room to have a lonely pity party when Lissa sent the message through the bond.

I had told Lissa what had happened in the church, when _he _said the four words that shattered me. She had comforted me and told me that he was still confused. I got it. He was confused. But did that give him the right to hurt people around him?

I jogged over to her room and knocked on the door. She opened the door and smiled at me.

I walked in the room and looked around, a Guardian habit.

I looked at the couch and my eyes narrowed.

Dimitri.

I ignored him and turned to Lissa.

"What do you want to talk about, Lissa?"

"Sit down."

I looked around, Lissa was sitting in the only armchair and the couch was the only other option. I went out of my way to sit on the other side of the couch, as far away from Dimitri as possible.

"What's up, Liss?"

She smiled. "Dimitri's regained his Guardian status!" She told me excitedly.

I looked at him, his face remained impassive.

"That's great!" I said honestly.

As much as Dimitri might have hurt me, I was unfortunately still in love with him. And I was happy he had regained his guardian status.

Lissa gave me a knowing smile at my reaction and I rolled my eyes.

She turned to Dimitri, and gave him a warm smile. "How about you tell your family, Dimitri?"

He looked up at her, and quietly said, "I'd like that."

"But, I think someone should go with you. Someone like Rose."

I looked at her bewildered. "No way!" Dimitri had broken my heart and I wasn't exactly ready to bee traveling buddies with him.

What was Lissa thinking? I took a look into her mind to see exactly what she was thinking.

She was convinced that this would bring us back together.

I looked over at Dimitri. He seemed about as happy about the situation as I was. But then again, the Belikovs would be startled to see their undead son/brother show up at their door. They would need someone who knew them to tell them what had happened. I looked over at Lissa, she was looking at me pleadingly.

I sighed, "Fine, I'll go."

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	2. Girl Talk

**This is short, but it does have a discussion between Rose and Dimitri.**

**VAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVA VAVAVAVAVA**

"Lissa, it's only 2 weeks." _2 whole, torturous, weeks_.

Her eyes were bit watery when she pulled back from her tight hug, " I know, I'm just going to miss you."

I gave her a reassuring smile, " I'll miss you too. Just be back with Christian by the time I get back."

She rolled her eyes. "Maybe."

The speaker came to life, " Last call for plane 18, to Russia."

I looked at Lissa, "That's us."

She sent me a message through the bond,_ I hope you guys get back together_.

"Don't count on it." I said aloud.

I turned to Dimitri who was handing the flight attendant our tickets. I took a deep breath, gave Lissa one more hug and followed Dimitri onto the plane.

Just as I was about to step onto the plane, I heard Lissa in my mind.

_Oh, I hope you don't mind, I got you seats right beside each other._

I groaned out loud. Dimitri looked back at me, startled. I just shook my head at him. He turned back around.

I sat in the seat and Dimitri slipped into the one beside me. I couldn't help but notice how Lissa got us first class seats, way in the back of the plane. All by ourselves.

I sighed. _Lissa._

As the plane started up I decided I couldn't stand the silence and I turned to Dimitri.

"Are you excited to see your family again?"

Dimitri looked surprised at my sudden desire to talk, but he answered anyway.

"I'm more nervous than excited, I guess. I don't know what they'll think of me."

I found myself reassuring him, " Don't worry, once they know what's going on they'll accept you, no doubt."

He gave me a weak smile and nodded. I closed my eyes and leaned back into the seat.

What was I doing? I was reassuring him? After he broke my heart?

Even so I couldn't help but notice the smell of his aftershave. I remembered the way how I could smell it even better when he leaned down to kiss me. The way his soft silky hair would run through my fingers, how soft his-

"Did you like them?" His sudden question broke me out of my thoughts.

"Who?"

He shifted uncomfortably, "My family, you saw them right? Did you like them?"

I peered at his face, he seemed curios.

I smiled, "Yeah, they're so nice. Your mom's a great cook." I informed him, grinning.

"Yeah, I miss her cooking." A ghost of a smile played on his lips and I couldn't help feel a pang of jealousy that they could bring out a smiling side of him when he would barely look at me.

"Did you get along with my sisters? Viktoria's about your age."

I squirmed at the thought of Viktoria. He notice my discomfort right away and I marveled at how he could read me so easily.

"What's wrong?"

I shook my head, I didn't want to be the one to tell him about what went down with me and Viktoria.

"It's nothing."

He peered at me suspiciously but he shrugged it off and leaned back into the seat closing his eyes. I did the same and started to drift off and soon I was asleep.

"Rose? Rose, we're here. Get up."

I squinted my eyes at him, "Where?" I was still disoriented.

"Russia."

**Sooo? How is it? This is a short chapter, I know, but the next one has a scene I'm really excited about, but you'll only get it if you review, review, review!**

**Thanx to all the people who reviewed my last chapter.**

**Luv,**

**HersheyRoza **


	3. The Hallway Incident

Dimitri and I exited the plane passing one of the flight attendants. Dimitri was in front of me and being the polite person he was, gave the her a word of thanks in Russian. Her smile instantly turned into a flirtatious one and she said something back. As I walked past her smile faded back into a Barbie one and I shot daggers at her.

I had no reason to be jealous of course. She was a flight attendant and it wasn`t like Dimitri was going to be mine, anyway. I mentally sighed at the thought and exited the plane.

The airport in Moscow was incredibly crowded and I was nearly pulled into the throng when a warm, steady hand pulled me back. Dimitri gave me an exasperated sigh, " Stay with me Rose."

His hand was still on my wrist and my blood was fizzing from his touch, our eyes met for a second, and he hastily let go of my hand. My shoulders automatically drooped, my body's response of losing his touch.

We headed through the crowd to the rental car that was waiting outside for us. We hopped in, with Dimitri driving like always. This was partly because I had no idea where we were going and partly because all the road signs were in Russian. The drive was approximately 4 hours along with a break along the way for food and gas.

We drove through the city passing the beautiful buildings with their onion shaped domes and humungous churches with tall steeples.

The last time I had come to Russia I had wished Dimitri was beside me, his arm around my waist telling me about all the buildings and their history. But as always luck wasn't on my side.

About two hours into the uncomfortable drive, Dimitri's voice cut through the deafening silence, "That's Saint Basil's," I jumped up in alarm at hearing his voice so suddenly, "That's where I used to go to school." His voice I had taken on a soft, almost wistful tone. I turned my head to see the building he was referring to.

Saint Basil's was… beautiful. The school was enormous with large towers and little domes on top, like a Hershey drop. The school was red with green trim and a beautiful rolling lawns.

"That's where Viktoria would be right now.. correct?" With a jolt I realized that she probably wasn't, it was summer, after all. "Wait, no, that's wrong she's probably at home for vacation."

That meant I was going to have to face her after all. I sighed and rested my head against the headrest.

Dimitri was silent again as we neared a gas and diner shop. Dimitri quickly filled the car with gas as we headed inside to the diner. We slipped into a booth across from each other. "Rose, what's going on between you and Viktoria? Every time her name is mentioned you just go….. quiet. And everyone knows Rose Hathaway is not a quiet sort of person." His last sentence was in a teasing tone that made my heart ache.

I shot him a glare before answering, "Dimitri, I don't know if I'm the person to tell you about that."

"Rose…"

He looked at me and I realized how open and worried his face was and as I stared into those dark brown orbs I thought how he should probably know what was going on.

I sighed before launching into my story. I told him right from the beginning when his mother helped me fix up my wounds to Abe's offer when Viktoria had told me to get out of her house and life. I left out certain parts like when she had yelled at me that I didn't know what love was.

As I told my story the grip on his coffee tightened and when I told him about Rolan I was afraid he would break the flimsy mug.

"…so just so you know, I only left because of Abe's offer, not because of Viktoria. And please, please, _please, _don't tell her I told you this."

He took a few calming breaths, "OK, I won't but if I get my hands on that Rolan kid, I'm going to.." He glanced at his watch and muttered a quick swear in Russian, threw some money on the table glancing over at me, " We're late, let's go."

As we drove I looked over at him, his fingers were nervously drumming the steering wheel and he was raking a hand through his hair and then tucking the silky strands behind his ear again.

" Dimitri, don't be nervous. Lissa already called your family so they already know what's going on. How about I talk to them first and I'll signal for you to come over?"

He looked over at me, his eyes soft, "You always knew me so well, Roza."

My breath caught and my pulse pounded, threatening to break out of my neck. _Roza. _The old nickname that made my heart race and my fears wash away.

It took him a few seconds to realize what he'd called me and he blinked and turned back to the road snapping me out of my reverie.

We passed a sign and even though I had no understanding of the language, the sign was still etched into my mind. _Baia. _

We drove to his house, his lips tugging at the corners when he noticed a familiar shop or place. It was around 2:00 pm when we reached the familiar house.

I took a deep breath, turning to him and smiling reassuringly, " It'll be fine." I didn't know if I was speaking to myself or him anymore. He nodded, making himself comfortable against the car door.

I walked up to the house and reached out to knock on the door. I heard a familiar voice call out in Russian and footsteps patter on the floor near the door. The door swung open to reveal a tall figure.

The persons eyes widened, "Rose?"

"Viktoria." I breathed.

Suddenly I was pulled into a tight hug. "Oh, Rose! I'm so sorry for yelling at you and telling you to go! I didn't expect to find your bed empty in the morning! Oh, I'm _so, so_ sorry Rose!"

I smiled at her antics, "Hey," I said patting her back, "It's okay! We all make mistakes." _Trust me, I know._

I smiled, "Is Olena there? I have a surprise for you!"

"Of course, but seeing you here is surprise enough!"

She walked inside calling out, "Mama! Rose is here!" her voice was excited to be the one to tell the shocking news. Olena came out more happy than surprised. The family already knew, of course, about Dimitri turning back, but only Olena was aware of the fact we were coming to visit.

"Rose! I missed you so much, we woke up and you were gone!" Then quietly she whispered "Is he here?"

I nodded and if possible her smile grew wider.

I looked over at Dimitri who was twiddling his thumbs, and jerked my head in 'get over here' sort of motion.

Dimitri walked over from the car pausing at the doorway, "_Mama_?"

And that's when the tears and the hugging started. Olena pulled him down into a big hug. "Dimka! Oh, _Dimka_, it's you!"

The rest was a rapid string of Russian I couldn't understand, but when she pulled back it seemed like she was scolding him about leaving them and giving them such a scare.

Viktoria was frozen in place standing in the hall. Her mouth opened, "_Dimitri?"_

He stepped into the hallway tentatively, half raising his arms in hope. Then she ran at him, pulling him into a giant hug. He wrapped his arms around her both of them murmuring in Russian.

Then Karolina and Sonya walked downstairs to see what all the commotion was about. They're reactions were similar to Olena's.

Karolina pulled back to poke him hard in the chest, "Dimitri Belikov! If you ever do that again.. I don't know what I'll do, but it will be drastic!"

Dimitri smiled a sheepish smile, "Sorry, Lina."

After we sat on the couch, adding to what Lissa had told them, Olena urged us both to get up and go get changed and showered. Dimitri got up first walking upstairs, dragging his suitcase behind him.

Viktoria shot me a sly glance, " Sooo, are you and Dimka back together again?"

Her innocent question made me flinch. "No." I whispered and then unwilling to answer any more questions I grabbed my suitcase to haul upstairs. Tears began to prick at my eyes and as I didn't watch were I was going, I ran into something hard.

I started to pitch backwards bracing myself for the impact, but it never came. Instead a warm steady hand wrapped around my torso. I looked up into a pair of gorgeous brown eyes and nearly melted. I realized the position Dimitri and I were in.

One of his long arms were wrapped around my waist the other hooked under my thigh to keep me upright. His hair was still wet from his shower and he was _shirtless. _It was everything I could do not to kiss him senseless right then.

The scent of his cologne wrapped around us making me dizzy. He looked at me, and when he spoke his voice was almost husky, "Are you okay, Roza?"

I nodded, too dumb to speak. His face was so close to mine and then it was inching closer. I could practically feel his lips on mine. My hold on his neck tightened and then he leaned, his lips almost, just barely, brushing mine when a voice sounded from the bottom of the stairs instantly making us snap away from each other immediately.

"Rose! Are you okay?" Viktoria's voice floated up the stairs.

"I'm fine!" I called back when, I found my voice again.

Dimitri's eyes met mine for a brief second before he hurried off.

_What just happened?_

**Whew! I'm done! Whoop, whoop! I know I haven't updated but I gave you 1672 words to make up for it!**

**This chapter took a lot of work and thanx to my reviewers I was motivated to write a super-long one! I would appreciate some reviews, please!**

**Luv,**

**HersheyRoza**

**P.S.- check out my other stories on my profile!**


	4. Talking it Out

**I can't apologize enough for not updating! There is no excuse for my laziness and even if there was I wouldn't bore you guys with them. Her's the chapter, and unfortunatley it's just a filler but it's one of those chappies that just need to be there for it to work.**

Dinner was bittersweet. Sweet because Olena is probably the best cook ever and Viktoria and me did a lot of catching up. Bitter and akward because I ended up sitting right across from Dimitri, so when I looked up I caught Dimitri's eye and then we would both hurrriedly look away.

I mentally groaned. Was this how the next two weeks were gonna be?

After begging Olena to let me do the dishes, I headed upstairs to the washroom to get ready for bed. After whatever it was that happened with Dimitri I had dragged my suitcase to Viktoria's room. rooted through my messy pile of clothes, I produced a pair of pyjama's and my hairbrush. I headed to the bathroom and quickly got ready.

When I walked into Viktoria's room she was sitting on the bed, flipping through a Russian magazine with a gorgeous model on the front. Once she heard me come in however she set it down and fixed me with a look.

"Okay. Spill." The knowing look she gave me looked so much like Lissa that I mentally shivered.

I tried to act nonchalant, "What do you mean?"

She rolled her eyes, "Don't try that with me! What happened with you and Dimka? What was so bad that you ran away, huh?"

I mimicked her and rolled my eyes, "I didn't _run way_.."

She fixed me with a look again, "Rose."

I sighed, turning these problems over in my mind. Could I tell Viktoria what happened? I mean, he was her brother.

As if listening to my internal reverie she said, "Rose, whatever happened, Dimka may be my brother but I'm still a girl. I can try and understand."

And that's when I told her. _Everything._

Excluding some parts though. The cabin (generalized), him biting me (completely skipped) and mine and Adrian's 'infatuation' (she inferred).

But through the whole thing she listened, really listened and it felt great. Having a fresh pair of ears was refrshing.

Telling her the ending was hard though, "And then he said... 'Love fades, mine has.'"

She gasped, "He said that?! When I get my hands on that idiot..." she trailed off into a string of Russian.

"Oh, Viktoria! You can't tell anyone about this. Not you're mother, sisters and definitley not Dimitri."

She smiled, "Of course not. Your secrets safe with me."

'And Vikki? Thanks."

"No problem."

We went to sleep after that and for the first time since Dimitri talked told me that he had given up on us, I slept dreamlessly.

**Please, please review! As much as you guys might want to flame for me not updating please don't. You can tell me how you hate that I haven't been updating but please be polite about it.**

**So do you think Rose did the right thing telling Vika about what happened? Will Dimitri and Rose talk about the hallway incident? Review and tell me what you think! :)**

**Love,**

**ShiniRoza (Yes, I have changed my pen name)**


	5. Friends?

When I woke up the next morning, I was slightly disoriented. I looked around the room,forgetting where I was. Then it all came back. I was in the Belikov's house, _Dimitri's_ home. I sighed and rolled out of bed to find that Viktoria was already downstairs. I trudged downstairs to the kitchen, where everyone greeted me a good morning. I smiled and sat down, "Morning, everyone."

The first thing my mind thought though was, `_Where's Dimitri?` _

As if my thoughts had conjured him, he stepped into the kitchen, hair damp and freshly shaven. As he walked in I was hit with the scent of his aftershave, the fresh smell bringing me a feeling of home. The Belikovs had taken to speaking English with me around so Olena greeted Dimitri with a warm _`good morning`. _

He too smiled and stooped down to give her a kiss on the cheek, "Morning, mama."

He looked over at the table, making eye contact with me but this time instead of looking away he gave me a small smile. I was shocked and my reflex was to instantly smile back. After I did, I immediately looked away, still in shock. _Did he just smile? Was I imagining it?_ It was pretty sad that I was getting worked up over a smile, but, hey, after everything that happened between us a smile was kind of stupefying. But then he trumped it, saying, "Rose, could I talk to you?"

I nodded calmly but on the inside I was thinking, '_What?!'_

We walked into the living room and both sat on the couch and (like always) I was the first to speak, "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"About us."

I started squirming, "Listen, just forget about it, because I know what you're going to say and-"

"I think we should be friends."

"Uh...What?"

"I think we should be friends. It's just that I don't want things to be awkward between us and I was hoping to-"

"No," I interrupted him, "I don't want to be friends with you."

He looked surprised. I had surprised myself too. "Dimitri, do you honestly think I want to be friends with you, now. After everything that happened? I tried, okay? And you shut me out. So, no, I don't want to be friends with you." And then before the tears could fall I walked away.

-*-_HLMHLMN_-*-

Later that afternoon everyone (except Yeva) was sitting in the living room, catching up and exchanging stories. The kids were sprawled on the floor, Olena sitting in a rocking chair, me and Vika curled up on the couch, Sonya and Karolina on the other one and Dimitri was sitting on the floor with little Zoya , playing blocks.

The day was going great (other than Dimitri's 'talk') when Paul asked, "Uncle Dimka, could you and Aunt Rose spar for us?" He punctuated this with an innocent smile.

The rest f the family could sense the tension between us as Dimitri eye's flicked over to me, asking if that was okay.

I thought it was a terrible idea, I didn't want to look at Dimitri, let alone get physical with him (a voice in my head said that I wouldn't mind; I ignored as best as possible) .But so I didn't let Paul down I nodded, almost imperceptibly. Dimitri nodded back and we said in unison, "Sure."

**So.. I'm having trouble deciding who should win the spar, so I propose a contest. Review or PM me who you think should win. Voting closes on April 5th so, whoever gets the most votes by then will win.**

**Thanks for reading and don't forget to review! :)**

**ShiniRoza**


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